This invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring corrugations and undulations in the contour of railroad rails caused by wear along and across the surface of the rail.
It is well known that rail surfaces experience wear, and, particularly in curves, the surfaces tend to wear unevenly, often developing corrugated and undulatory surfaces. Up to certain limits, worn rails may be renewed by grinding their running surfaces. A first step in dealing with track wear through grinding lies in accurately measuring the wear. Such measurement can then be used in planning efficient rail grinding programs, controlling the actual grinding effort, and checking the contour after the grinding is complete. One of the principal difficulties in measuring rail surface contour is in establishing a reference against which to measure while moving at a relatively high rate of speed. The only practical approach seems to be carrying the measuring device along the rails themselves, but such an approach has the inherent problem of at least indirectly establishing the reference point for measuring the contour from the very contoured rail surface. Consequently, the moving reference point creates a reference line which is susceptible to vertical movement which creates inaccuracies in the measured rail surface contour.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for sensing the contour in railroad rails which exhibits a good response, or transfer function, over the entire range of corrugation and undulation wavelengths likely to be encountered. In this connection, a related object of the invention is to provide a device for sensing the contour in railroad rails which does not require synchronization of multiple sensors.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for sensing the contour in railroad rails which is not significantly affected by the corrugations and undulations in the rail surface.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and method for sensing the contour in railroad rails which achieves the foregoing objects even at a relatively high speed over the rail surface.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for sensing the contour in a railroad rail which achieves the foregoing objects which can be used both as a measuring device or as a sensing and control device in a grinding system.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawIings.